The Twelve Year Plan…

I recall over the years during job interviews, I’ve been asked “Where do you see yourself in ten years?” I’d typically give a BS answer that sounded good, but in reality I had no clue what I’d be doing, let alone what I’d want to be doing in ten years. Well, that’s all changed, and if asked that question today, I could give an honest answer: I plan on being free of debt, free of a mortgage, and in a position to thumb my nose at the rat race and hit the road…permanently.

We’ve both decided now’s the time to start our plan to achieve that goal. Jennifer’s been crunching the numbers of late and if all goes well, 10 years from now we’ll be debt free and mortgage free. Of course a lot can happen in that time period, but unless we have a plan and begin to execute it, there’s no way it’ll ever happen. After we pay off our debts, we’ll turn our attention to our mortgage. By paying it off 12 years early we’ll save nearly $46,000 in interest alone. Once that happens, we’ll see what our savings looks like and then decide if it’s time. We’ll both be in our early 50’s, with (hopefully) many years ahead of us to enjoy life without the rat race. The grand plan from that point is to sell the house, downsize our belongings, buy a new 31′ – 35′ Class A or Class C motor home and call the U.S. our home.

We’ve been doing some initial research on “full timing”, as RVers call it, so we have all our ducks in a row when the time comes. Fortunately we have plenty of time to prepare, as we’re learning there’s a lot involved. But in the end, we’re sure it’ll be worth it. After all, how many in their early 50’s would be in a position to do something this bold? Heck, we’ll have friends who’ll still have kids in school ten years from now!

Every time we watch “RV” or “The Long, Long Trailer”, we think about how cool it would be to be out there on the road like the Gornickes or the Collinis.

We know this life wouldn’t be for everyone, but for two people who love being on the road and seeing different parts of the U.S. as we do, I couldn’t think of a better life to have. And in case you were wondering, no, we wouldn’t be going from place to place every few days. We’d likely stay in an area for a month or two, then move on to another place and set up shop there for a while before moving on to the next dot on the map. Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it? Stay tuned…and stay where you are…we’ll bring our house to you!